FEHMENTATION WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE SUGAR HOUSE. 



the terpenes, and to this he attributes the peculiar flavour of Jamaica rum, 

 utilizing its absence and presence as diagnostic of the authenticity. Notwith- 

 standing, the presence of ethereal salts is a very large factor in forming the 

 flavour and bouquet of rums. 



The sharp unpleasant taste of freshly distilled rums is probably due to 

 the presence of fatty acids ; these in time react with the alcohol forming 

 ethereal salts, an equilibrium between alcohol, fatty acid, ethereal salts and 

 water being formed ; to this is perhaps due the ageing of spirits. 



It is stated that, in Jamaica, fruits such as mangoes, pine-apples, guavas, are 

 mixed with the wash so as to impart their flavour to the spirit, but of this the 

 writer has no first hand knowledge ; it has also been stated that old boots and 

 tobacco are used to flavour Jamaica rum, but this a gross miss-statement and 

 entirely without foundation. 



The addition of laboratory prepared ethereal salts to silent spirits with 

 intent to imitate genuine rums is, of course, a fraud. 



Various patents employing ozone, electricity, &c., with the idea of rapidly 

 ageing spirits have been taken out, but the writer is unaware of the successful 

 application of any one of them. 



The Distillery. A distillery consists of four separate buildings ; 

 the liquor loft containing the fermenting vats, the still house in which are 

 placed the stills, the engine house and the rum store ; to these in certain cases 

 may be added the boiler house. 



The choice of position for the liquor loft is not unimportant, as experience 

 has shown that the fermentation is affected by apparently trivial causes ; it 

 should be raised on pillars about fifteen feet from the ground, be well lighted 

 and ventilated and open on all sides to the breeze, and should not be shadowed 

 by the other factory buildings. In certain factories the rum store is built 

 underneath the liquor loft ; this is inadvisable as besides running the risk of 

 wash leaking into the rum vats, circulation of air underneath the liquor loft 

 is prevented. The pipes and gutters used in connection with the distillery 

 should be placed and arranged so that they present easy access for cleaning; 

 underground pipes, and concrete or brickwork tanks in connection with a 

 distillery are unhesitatingly to be condemned. 



The number of vats and their capacity depends on the amount of molasses 

 available and the time required for fermentation; every 100 gallons of 

 molasses will give between 600 and 700 gallons of wash at a density of 1'OGO, 

 and from every 100 tons of sugar made, from 3000 to 9000 gallons of 

 molasses result, dependent of course on the composition of the juice. Given 

 100 tons of sugar per week, from 3000 to 9000 gallons of wash per day will 

 be produced, and allowing the fomentation to take 48 hours, the capacity of 

 the vats must be double this ; in practice it would be advisable to allow at 

 least 25 per cent, in excess of the calculated figure. Of course in many places- 



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